Life Hack: How to know if you have bedbugs and what to do if you find them in your home
What can I do if I have a bedbug infestation? Picture: iStock
Bedbugs are blood-sucking insects that feed on humans and animals. They are a reddish-brown colour, flat with oval-shaped bodies and have no wings. They are usually five to seven millimetres long. Young bedbugs are smaller and are sometimes translucent or yellow in colour. Bedbug eggs are tiny and white. Bedbugs cannot fly but they move quickly. They usually make their way to new places — like your bed — by travelling from a nearby apartment in the same building, or being transported directly from second-hand furniture or in your luggage if you were staying in an infested location.
There are reports of a bedbug surge in France, particularly around the Paris area, with some news sources reporting bedbugs were even seen on public transport in the city. Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire asked the French government last week to take action to fight the “scourge” of bedbugs in the city ahead of the 2024 Olympics which will take place there next summer. In recent weeks Paris has welcomed additional visitors for events like the Rugby World Cup and Paris Fashion Week.
If there are bedbugs in your home, you would probably first notice small, itchy clusters of bites on your skin, usually on your arms or shoulders. However, bedbug bites don't cause any marks or itching on some people. You may also notice blood spots on your sheets or mattress, small pale yellow eggs or eggshells, black dots of bedbug excrement around the size of a full stop, shed skin (which looks like a bug), a sweet, musty odour around your bed, or most obviously, you might see the bedbugs in your bed.
If you think you have bedbugs, search for them to confirm. Examine your mattress and bed closely, paying attention to any nooks and crannies where they might be hiding like seams or cracks in the bedframe. They can also be found in other areas like sofas and chairs, curtains, drawers, electrical outlets and appliances, under loose wallpaper, under carpeting, on luggage, on objects near the bed or on headboards.
Wash your bedding, curtains, and clothing in hot water to remove bedbugs and dry them on the highest dryer setting where possible. For items that cannot be washed, like stuffed toys and shoes, place them in a dryer at high heat for at least 30 minutes. Scrub mattress seams with a stiff brush to remove bedbugs and their eggs before vacuuming your bed. Vacuum the bed and the area around it every day, putting the vacuum bag or contents in a plastic bag which should be disposed of immediately. Remove clutter from around your bed, and move your bed away from walls and other furniture.
